Bloomberg claims that "people with direct knowledge of the matter" revealed that Apple will unveil the changes by the end of the year.

The new version of iTunes will more closely integrate with iCloud and there will be new Spotify-like music-sharing features, according to the sources.

The new sharing features will include users being able to listen to a song sent to them from a friend for free. Apple is said to have been negotiating with record labels to gain rights to allow this.

The new iTunes will also offer tighter integration with Facebook and Twitter so that people can share what they are listening to.

These changes are designed to make it easier for users to discover media, according to the sources.